1The LORD said to Moses and Aaron:2"This is a requirement of the law that the LORD has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke.3Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.4Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tent of Meeting.5While he watches, the heifer is to be burned--its hide, flesh, blood and offal.6The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer.7After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water. He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening.8The man who burns it must also wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he too will be unclean till evening.9"A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They shall be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin.10The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening. This will be a lasting ordinance both for the Israelites and for the aliens living among them.11"Whoever touches the dead body of anyone will be unclean for seven days.12He must purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third and seventh days, he will not be clean.13Whoever touches the dead body of anyone and fails to purify himself defiles the LORD's tabernacle. That person must be cut off from Israel. Because the water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on him, he is unclean; his uncleanness remains on him.14"This is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent: Anyone who enters the tent and anyone who is in it will be unclean for seven days,15and every open container without a lid fastened on it will be unclean.16"Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with a sword or someone who has died a natural death, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.17"For the unclean person, put some ashes from the burned purification offering into a jar and pour fresh water over them.18Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle the tent and all the furnishings and the people who were there. He must also sprinkle anyone who has touched a human bone or a grave or someone who has been killed or someone who has died a natural death.19The man who is clean is to sprinkle the unclean person on the third and seventh days, and on the seventh day he is to purify him. The person being cleansed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and that evening he will be clean.20But if a person who is unclean does not purify himself, he must be cut off from the community, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on him, and he is unclean.21This is a lasting ordinance for them. "The man who sprinkles the water of cleansing must also wash his clothes, and anyone who touches the water of cleansing will be unclean till evening.22Anything that an unclean person touches becomes unclean, and anyone who touches it becomes unclean till evening."

1Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly--mere infants in Christ.2I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.3You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?4For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men?5What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task.6I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.8The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.9For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.10By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds.11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.12If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,13his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.14If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.15If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.16Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?17If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.18Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise.19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness";20and again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile."21So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours,22whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future--all are yours,23and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

1So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God.2Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.3I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.4My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.5Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.6Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.7For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?8Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have become kings--and that without us! How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you!9For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men.10We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!11To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.12We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;13when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.14I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children.15Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.16Therefore I urge you to imitate me.17For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.18Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you.19But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have.20For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.21What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit?

1In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.2Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron.3They quarreled with Moses and said, "If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the LORD!4Why did you bring the LORD's community into this desert, that we and our livestock should die here?5Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!"6Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them.7The LORD said to Moses,8"Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink."9So Moses took the staff from the LORD's presence, just as he commanded him.10He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?"11Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.12But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them."13These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD and where he showed himself holy among them.14Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying: "This is what your brother Israel says: You know about all the hardships that have come upon us.15Our forefathers went down into Egypt, and we lived there many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers,16but when we cried out to the LORD, he heard our cry and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. "Now we are here at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory.17Please let us pass through your country. We will not go through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the king's highway and not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory."18But Edom answered: "You may not pass through here; if you try, we will march out and attack you with the sword."19The Israelites replied: "We will go along the main road, and if we or our livestock drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We only want to pass through on foot--nothing else."20Again they answered: "You may not pass through." Then Edom came out against them with a large and powerful army.21Since Edom refused to let them go through their territory, Israel turned away from them.22The whole Israelite community set out from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor.23At Mount Hor, near the border of Edom, the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,24"Aaron will be gathered to his people. He will not enter the land I give the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah.25Get Aaron and his son Eleazar and take them up Mount Hor.26Remove Aaron's garments and put them on his son Eleazar, for Aaron will be gathered to his people; he will die there."27Moses did as the LORD commanded: They went up Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community.28Moses removed Aaron's garments and put them on his son Eleazar. And Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain,29and when the whole community learned that Aaron had died, the entire house of Israel mourned for him thirty days.

1When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim, he attacked the Israelites and captured some of them.2Then Israel made this vow to the LORD: "If you will deliver these people into our hands, we will totally destroy their cities."3The LORD listened to Israel's plea and gave the Canaanites over to them. They completely destroyed them and their towns; so the place was named Hormah.4They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way;5they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!"6Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.7The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people.8The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live."9So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.10The Israelites moved on and camped at Oboth.11Then they set out from Oboth and camped in Iye Abarim, in the desert that faces Moab toward the sunrise.12From there they moved on and camped in the Zered Valley.13They set out from there and camped alongside the Arnon, which is in the desert extending into Amorite territory. The Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.14That is why the Book of the Wars of the LORD says: ". . . Waheb in Suphah and the ravines, the Arnon15and the slopes of the ravines that lead to the site of Ar and lie along the border of Moab."16From there they continued on to Beer, the well where the LORD said to Moses, "Gather the people together and I will give them water."17Then Israel sang this song: "Spring up, O well! Sing about it,18about the well that the princes dug, that the nobles of the people sank-- the nobles with scepters and staffs." Then they went from the desert to Mattanah,19from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth,20and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where the top of Pisgah overlooks the wasteland.21Israel sent messengers to say to Sihon king of the Amorites:22"Let us pass through your country. We will not turn aside into any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the king's highway until we have passed through your territory."23But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory. He mustered his entire army and marched out into the desert against Israel. When he reached Jahaz, he fought with Israel.24Israel, however, put him to the sword and took over his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, but only as far as the Ammonites, because their border was fortified.25Israel captured all the cities of the Amorites and occupied them, including Heshbon and all its surrounding settlements.26Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken from him all his land as far as the Arnon.27That is why the poets say: "Come to Heshbon and let it be rebuilt; let Sihon's city be restored.28"Fire went out from Heshbon, a blaze from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab, the citizens of Arnon's heights.29Woe to you, O Moab! You are destroyed, O people of Chemosh! He has given up his sons as fugitives and his daughters as captives to Sihon king of the Amorites.30"But we have overthrown them; Heshbon is destroyed all the way to Dibon. We have demolished them as far as Nophah, which extends to Medeba."31So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites.32After Moses had sent spies to Jazer, the Israelites captured its surrounding settlements and drove out the Amorites who were there.33Then they turned and went up along the road toward Bashan, and Og king of Bashan and his whole army marched out to meet them in battle at Edrei.34The LORD said to Moses, "Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you, with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon."35So they struck him down, together with his sons and his whole army, leaving them no survivors. And they took possession of his land.

1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife.2And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?3Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present.4When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present,5hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.6Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough?7Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast--as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.8Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.9I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people--10not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.11But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.12What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?13God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you."